Architecture Wednesday: Oak Pass House

The Oak Pass House sits on an impressive 3.5-acre hilly site in Beverly Hills, California. The architect—Walker Workshop—created a home that blends naturally into the hilly terrain and the 130 live oak trees that grow on the site; the house is as much a part of the landscape as possible and still offer stunning views ‘without the house becoming a central focus’.

So, the that end, the home was “carved” into the hillside with a lower courtyard creating an opening for natural light, airflow and a place to have a morning coffee, while the upper level offers a wondrous seventy-five foot infinity pool. The home is what’s called an “upside Down” home, with the main living areas upstairs and the bedrooms down. In addition, the bedrooms are actually buried in the hillside beneath a green roof of edible herbs.

This “upside down buried in the hill” concept makes this nearly 8,000 square foot house seem much smaller, though the addition of all the glass, the terraces, the patios, the balconies and the seventy five foot infinity edge swimming pool — which bisects the house and become a reflecting of sorts for one of the more majestic trees — makes the house feel expansive.

And of course, perfectly California.

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